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DeSean Jackson returns a punt for a 65-yard touchdown as time expires to lift the Eagles to an improbable win.

The Journal provides minute-by-minute analysis of an NFC East showdown between the Giants and Eagles in East Rutherford, N.J. Guest blogger Tom Perrotta offers commentary on the game and the FOX telecast, and Journal reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala contributes from New Meadowlands Stadium. The Eagles won, 38-31.

Welcome to the game that almost certainly will decide the winner of the NFC East this season. Giants. Eagles. New York. Philadelphia. Greatest city in the world. The place where July 4 became something more than a summer day. (Yes, thatâ€™s right: Philadelphia is home to our nationâ€™s first backyard cookout.) Oh, yeah, and Cliff Lee lives there, too. Or at least, he will soon, now that he has instructed Brian Cashman and the Yankees to give their bags of money to players like Russell Martin. Cliff didnâ€™t need the money. He liked the Phillies more than money, even though they traded him after the 2009 season, when he pitched them to the World Series. The trade was to Seattle, for a dozen beers. Now do you understand why Yankees fans are insulted?

But thatâ€™s baseball, and pre-pre-season at that. In football, Philadelphia has nothing on New York. The Eagles havenâ€™t won a Super Bowl since, since â€“ well, the Eagles have never won the Super Bowl. Who knew? They have, however, beaten the Giants five straight times, including once earlier this year, when Kevin Kolbâ€™s backup, a guy named Michael Vick, led them to a 27-17 win. Or perhaps itâ€™s better to say that Eli Manning led the Giants to a defeat, throwing three interceptions and fumbling late in the fourth quarter after running for a first down on fourth-and-6.

The Eagles have the best offense in the league, averaging 402.8 yards a game, and they often infuriate opponents with long-yardage plays, both in the air and on the ground, like the 50-yard touchdown run by LeSean McCoy on fourth-and-1 in the last meeting between these teams. (For more on the Eaglesâ€™ mastery of the big play, read Aditi Kinkhabwalaâ€™s story in Saturdayâ€™s Wall Street Journal.) The Eagles are tied for second in the league in takeaways, with 30. The Giants defense leads the league with 31, but Manning and the offense have turned the ball over 33 times, more than any other team in the NFL. Manning has thrown a maddening 19 interceptions, most in the NFL, and has tossed seven picks in his last four games against the Eagles. Asante Samuel, who is listed as â€œquestionableâ€

It very much pains me to see Frank Caliendo trapped in a Dr. Phil costume. And here’s a shocker: The FOX pre-game crew still loves to laugh. When they stop laughing three of them pick the Giants, while Frank and Jimmy Johnson pick the Eagles.

The defensive key for the Giants, as we wrote Friday, is not allowing any big plays. (In the nine games the Eagles have at least one offensive play of at least 40 yards, theyâ€™ve won. In the four they havenâ€™t, theyâ€™ve lost.) Key 1(a) is getting pressure on Michael Vick. The Giants found a formula and in the three games since, other teams have followed suit.

In the nine games before his Nov. 21 game against the Giants, Vick was pressured 48 times. In the four since, heâ€™s been pressured 41 times. (The Giants had 12 pressures.) Vick’s statistics aren’t nearly as gaudy when he is, in fact, pressured. His completion percentage falls from 71.3% to 35.9%, and while he’s thrown 15 touchdowns and one interception without pressure, he’s tossed just two touchdowns and three picks when he’s under duress.

I’m surprised to see Manning going deep on two straight throws in the first series — especially the second-down bomb, which Asante Samuel had the best shot at catching. But no picks! So all is well for Giants fans.

Who needs Eli when you have Michael Vick? There’s great pressure from the defensive line — good call, Aditi — and Webster makes an easy read to pick off a Vick pass on the Eagles’ first possession. Vick forced it. The Giants take over, and Manningham makes a nice catch on first down.

On the Giants’ next offensive possession, Eli Manning indicates that he’s going to test Shaun O’Hara’s snapping skills by dropping back 60 yards in the Super Shotgun offense. Related: New York has two punts, one pick and no points.

In the teams’ first meeting Nov. 21, the Giants did a rock-star job of forcing Vick to his right, where the lefthander would have to throw across his body. Not this time. Vick’s rolled left and scrambled left already.

OK, so far the Giants haven’t run well. They’ve lost yards on every first down. Manning is under a lot of pressure. He’s thrown one wobbler and and two overthrown deep balls. Nicks has dropped a catchable pass on the sidelines. The inevitable result? A high-arcing pass from Manning to Manningham, good for a gorgeous touchdown and 7-0 Giants lead. Don’t you love it when things go exactly according to plan?

On third down, Manning drops back and his pass is tipped and then intercepted by Quintin Mikell, giving the Eagles the ball in Giants’ territory. Darryl Tapp, the lineman who blocked Manning’s pass and made the interception possible, is listed at 6-foot-1. Some vertical. He looked about 9-foot-7 on that play.

The Giants are hit with a personal foul, as Vick is shoved out of bounds after a scramble to his left for a first down. Before the game, ESPN ran a segment on this, asking if Vick wasn’t given enough personal foul calls because he’s such a good runner. The network cited just one example, in Dallas last week. Today, though, he gets the call, and that’s how the first quarter ends.

The Giants defense makes a nice stand there — capped by some good pressure on Vick — and holds the Eagles to a field goal. So far, neither team has much rhythm. You’d think they were playing Oakland, where the gods are celebrating Tim Tebow’s first NFL start by making it rain 20 inches an hour.

As I watch Kevin Gilbride flip through his color-coded, laminated playbook on the sidelines, I ask you this: When are NFL coaches going to start using iPads? It seems like a natural evolution in coaching. Right?

Some drive by the Giants, as Mario Manningham dashes into the end zone after a play-action dart from Manning. Nice catch, nice spin and a little zig-zag to slip the last defender. His days in the doghouse are officially over.

I love when receivers, after being tackled, get off the ground and start running, as if they hadn’t been downed. The defender was sitting on you! Has this ploy ever, ever worked? In other news: Vick scrambles for a first down, and the Eagles are still waiting for their first big play of the day.

As the Giants start their next drive, here’s a small comment on football: It’s a great game, but when it’s played without penalties, it’s a much, much greater game. Only two so far, both by the Giants.

From the Department of Jinxes: Troy Aikman comments on Manning’s excellent play so far. Manning immediately heaves the ball down the middle of the field, off his back foot. The ball floats and is nearly intercepted.

The Giants are inside the red zone, which leads to the question: If they score here and take a 21-3 lead, is this game a lock? Troy Aikman seems to think so. Then again, a lot can happen with Vick on the field.

Boss had a shot to snag an over-the-middle pass from Manning, but he can’t quite hold on — the second time today he’s dropped a tough ball. The Giants come away with a field goal, good for a 17-3 lead.

Inexplicably, the Eagles decide to push the ball pinned deep in their territory, and Jeremy Maclin appears to fumble a pass. No final call yet, but that looks like a fumble and not an incomplete pass. Philadelphia is imploding, and if the call stands the Giants have first-and-goal. Let’s make Troy Aikman’s obvious point before he does: If New York does score here, that might be the game.

So, I write mostly about tennis, which has instant replay. Replays are less complicated in tennis: The ball either hits the line or it doesn’t, and it’s all done by a computer, so there’s no human interpretation. That said, I can’t understand why NFL replays take so long. It’s mind boggling. The clips are ready right away. The refs do this all the time. The rules are clear. Just. Make. The. Call.

This call came pretty quickly, all in about two minutes. And it stands. Giants lining up for another scoring chance.

That’s the half. The Giants hold the Eagles to 74 yards, and Vick’s longest pass went for 12 yards. The Eagles have more rushing yards than the Giants, but Manning has 188 passing yards to Vick’s 33. So far, it’s a rout.

Giants run on third-and-1, but Bradshaw gets stuffed. Good call to try and run the clock, but the Eagles read it well. The Eagles will start inside their own 10, which, the way things are going today, is about 2,500 yards from the end zone.

True story: My wife and I once left the window open in a Florence hotel room and came home to a gecko. He ran around all night and drove us bonkers. And so I have no love for the Geico mascot. None at all.

This looks like a safe lead for the Giants, especially with the defense playing like it is. Things you like to have with a lead as large as this one: a great running game (check), a quarterback who doesn’t make many mistakes (minus) and receivers who hold onto the ball — not like Mario Manningham on that last play. Oops.

The Giants blitz every player, coach and executive in the franchise, leaving Jeremy Maclin wide open for the Eagles’ first touchdown of the game. The Eagles, the most explosive team in the league, are down by a mere two touchdowns, and we still have a quarter and change left. Is this still a game?

Still can’t get over that fumble from Manningham. What was he doing? His momentum was headed out of bounds, yet he somehow threw the ball back into play. It was a physics-defying fumble. (Those are the worst kind, in case you were wondering.)

The Eagles with good defense on second down, but it couldn’t have been as good as Aikman says. “Everyone was pretty much double covered,” he tells us, because apparently, the Eagles have 20 defensive players on the field. New York punts.

That was oh-so-close to being a total disaster for the Giants, when Vick escaped a sack and threw a Hail Mary down field. Thomas tips the ball away from Maclin, who would have waltzed into the end zone to cut the Giants’ lead to a touchdown — if only Vick had led him there.

I credited Thomas with breaking up that play. Technically true, but as Aikman points out, the Giants front line deserves more praise. Without the pressure, Vick would have had time to lead Maclin down the field. In short: Thomas was beat; he caught up to a floater forced by the defensive line.

Are you serious? Andy Reid didn’t challenge what looked like a questionable call on a Jackson fumble after a long gain. Aikman says he has no doubt the Eagles would have maintained possession after a replay, and indeed, it looked like Jackson was touched before he hit the ground. Reid’s team is down 24-10 in the fourth quarter. What is he waiting for? Throw the flag! On the other sideline, Tom Coughlin coyly grins — well, he doesn’t grin, but you get the point.

Eagles fans are feeling gloomy right about now. But at least they’re not Vikings fans. Tomorrow night, Minnesota will play an outdoor home game on frozen turf. Ticketholders will receive seats on a first-come, first-served basis. No liquor will be sold. No outside food or beverages will be allowed. Oh, and the Vikings are terrible. Sounds like a blast! At least fans will get to watch the marvel that is Brett Favre…

Wait! What’s that? Breaking news: Brett Favre will extend his consecutive startless streak to two games Monday against the Chicago Bears. Favre is the only NFL quarterback in history to start 297 consecutive regular season games, a record, and then not start two consecutive games. Back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Man, anyone who said “too little, too late,” probably regrets that right about now. These are the Giants! The special-teams gang is caught sleeping on an onside kick, and the Eagles recover without so much as a scrum. Vick immediately finds Jackson, who races across the 50-yard line, and suddenly, that 31-10 lead seems a long time ago.

Vick gets tired of seeing his passes knocked down by the Giants line, so he just runs the ball in for a touchdown. That’s two touchdowns in two minutes for the Eagles. That sound you hear is one, giant gulp in the Meadowlands.

We have an update on Andy Reid’s failure to challenge DeSean Jackson’s fumble, which could prove the difference in this game: That red flag he was holding in his hand? It was his handkerchief, not the official challenge flag. Reid left it at home and was asking the official if he could use his hanky instead. As most football fans could have told him, Section 24(a) of Rule 3,075 specifically prohibits this. Moving on!

The Giants’ running game hasn’t done much this game, but it’s doing the job so far in the final minutes. Important (and impressive) first down for Bradshaw. The Eagles take another timeout as New York tries to milk the clock.

Vick hits Maclin on the outside and he spins inside and races home, positively stunning the New Meadowlands Stadium crowd and, well, pretty much everyone else, too. The Eagles have scored three touchdowns in 6:13 to even up a game in which they trailed, 31-10, and 24-3 at halftime. Also, they have 344 yards in the second half. That’s all.

Just watched the last play again. More astounding with each view. Why did the Giants commit so much after a bad line-drive kick? Where was the deep/safety coverage? What? How? The who and when, we know too well. And my, oh my, did Jackson rub it in. He stayed out of the end zone for a while to taunt the Giants and then fired the ball into the stands.

This was, for a long while, a really, really uneventful game. We’re not kidding. After the first half, the Giants led 24-3 and the Eagles couldn’t move the ball. Eli Manning was — gasp!– great. The Giants didn’t even need to run the ball, and they led, 31-10, with less than eight minutes to play.

Then it happened. The most ridiculous, unimaginable, screwball, are-you-kidding me comeback of this NFL season, and perhaps in many NFL seasons. The Eagles scored a long touchdown, recovered an onside kick, scored again, forced a punt and scored again. But that was nothing compared to the finale, a 65-yard punt return by DeSean Jackson to end the game as time expired. The number of things wrong with the final play? How much time do you have? A bad punt. Terrible coverage. Confusion everywhere. And on the Eagles sideline: bedlam, naturally.

The Eagles have now beaten the Giants in six straight games and they’ve all but locked up the NFC East title. The Giants, who seemed to be playing their best game of the year, instead come away with their most disheartening loss in, well, forever — or at least until next week.

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